Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
A HBC reader has come across an interesting series of reminiscences online written by Lutie Stewart Wilson, who turned 100 years old in 1998. She has sonce passed away, but wrote some revealing comments about her childhood in Texas and the American south in the period just before
World War I (about 1910-14). There is a whole section of her book on "clothing" which is especially interesting to HBC. Her book is entitled Used to Be. Here are a few excerpts with some portions summarized.
There were both winter and summer headwear. "On the head--boys wore caps or hats in the winter but the girls wore "fastinators". These were of knitted wool, generally brightly colored and often had beads or "pearls" woven into them. They really were flat scarves, peaked or pointed in front (over the forehead) and shaped somewhat triangular[ly]. The long sides were often long enough to come around the neck or throat. Winters were often cold, wet and nasty and one in this family walked almost a mile to school." As for the summer, "This was summer clothing and a boy wore a narrow crowned, large brimmed straw hat that had a narrow elastic cord to go under the chin. This hat (very similar to that worn by young girls) had a narrow dark ribbon around its crown and two streamers hung down the back."
"There were no raincoats! One bundled into the winter coat and carried a huge umbrella. These umbrellas were black, large enough for two to easily walk under (often sheltered three)."
"Boys' clothes were different from today's also. They (as small boys) wore white shirt-like blouses with a draw string above the belt line.
Pants were close fitting and were short [i.e. about three inches above the knee]. "Winter clothing for the boys used wool or worsted material. They wore knickers [fastened above the knee] and had a matching or contrasting jacket. Boys wore knickers until they were quite tall. Some had their first long pants only when they graduated from High School.
Their Sunday (or dress) clothes were the same kind of pants, but had a "Buster Brown" coat. This came just above the pants and was of heavier material, tailored with a belted middle."
Children "wore a body-waist: a close fitting sleeveless and neckless garment that covered to the waist. It buttoned in the back (or front) and had two buttons (one on each side) for the panties"
(i.e. drawers). Wilson also refers to these body-waists as "panty-waists," which became a common term for children's underwaists in the U.S. Both girls and boys wore long stockings with garters.
Stockings "had to be above the knees" and were held up by round garters [or by hose supporters attached to a waist]. Stockings often wore holes in them and had to be darned. Grandma not only darned stockings but made patches for dresses. Stockings were almost always black.
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